Chapter 1
She never liked showing much skin in the blazing sun of the Los Angeles beaches. So when she went surfing, instead of wearing a bikini, she wore a wetsuit with short sleeves and legs that went only to her mid-thigh. She lathered sunscreen on her face to prevent her pale, sensitive skin from getting sunburnt.
She loved how the seawater from the large waves splashed on her face and how the force of the waves pushed her forward. She liked the freedom it gave her, a feeling as if nothing could catch her or hold her down. It was a place where no one could chase her or do her harm. With one last flip, the wave carried her back to shore and she took the surfboard under her arms and walked barefooted in the hot sand.
It was the last time she would ever surf on a beach in Southern California unless she came back to visit. She carried the board to her car and drove home, back into the city.
When she arrived, she found her friend standing outside her house.
“Rachel, I’m here to help you pack,” said the woman with dyed blonde hair.
Rachel smiled. She took the keys out of the ignition and stepped out of the car.
“Diane, you know how I am. I’ve been packing for the past week and I’ve already finished since last night,” she said. “Plus, aren’t you a little late? My flight to Taipei leaves in two hours. How were you going to help me pack all my clothes?” When they entered the house, they saw that everything was completely empty, with a bunch of suitcases stacked up in the living room.
“I already sold the house, the car, and all the furniture. Their owners will be here soon,” she added.
“Ruolan-xiaojie,” Diane said in their native Mandarin, “you don’t waste time do you?”
“I’m always prepared, Di An,” Ruolan answered. “Perhaps you should follow my example.” Ruolan pulled her suitcases together. “Come. Help me carry these to the car.”
While their English names were common, Rachel and Diane preferred to use their native names when they spoke in Mandarin. Rachel’s name is Ruolan while Diane’s is Di An.
They soon arrived at LAX an hour later just as the plane was boarding. Her suitcases all went into cargo and she just carried a duffle bag with a few books, her laptop, and a change of clothes for when she arrived in Taipei. She hugged Di An and they said their goodbyes before she got on the plane.
The moment she sat down, a flight attendant came over and asked her if she wanted help with her bags. When Ruolan said no, she asked Ruolan what she wanted to eat and watch while she was on the plane. It was nothing unexpected for first-class and she realized that it was something she had to get used to.
She was going back to Beijing to take back her birthright that her mother and father had left for her in their will. She was going to take it back from all those who had denied her the right to what was hers.
It had been 8 years since she last was in Taipei. She and her parents made an agreement that she would only succeed in the company after she graduated from college with a business major. But when her parents passed away four years ago in a car accident, she couldn’t even go to their funeral.
The death was classified as an accident but she clearly knew that it wasn’t. There were too many people in her family who had tried to kill her to make sure she didn’t get her inheritance so when she heard her parents died, she knew it wasn’t an accident. The next day, she, too, almost died in a car accident.
To be prepared for the family company, she double majored in business management and economics with a minor in communications.
Ruolan’s spies in the company sent her weekly reports on finance and the projects the company is carrying out. She was prepared to make her move, to take back everything. Once she returned, it would be difficult to take control of the company. Her family would surely try to deny her a position as CEO. The only thing she could do was sell it. By putting the company under another person’s management, her family would have no need to try to kill her to completely take over.
...
He never liked the late mornings when the sun had already completely risen into the sky. He would rather the dawn when the sky was full of color and the sun was not too strong. But the problem was, he scarcely woke up early enough to see the orange sky at dawn or spare himself the blinding sunlight that was piercing the glass windows of his bedroom, forcing him out of his slumber. But as usual, he had to wake up and go to work especially because he had a flight that same day at noon to Taipei. No matter how difficult it was, he decided to wake up since his CEO had a new company that caught his eye, so it was time to get to work.
He got off the bed and put on a robe. When he arrived in the kitchen, he saw his long time friend, sitting at the counter eating breakfast.
“It was about time you woke up,” he said.
He walked over to the counter and poured himself a nice cup of tea like he did every morning. He sighed and sat on the tall chair. He looked up at his friend, who had left the table and was standing in front of the glass window, looking out at the city below.
“Kai?” he said.
“Hm?”
“Do we really have to go? The company isn’t even public,” he said.
“Han, I only accepted the proposition because it would be of interest to you,” Kai answered.
Han looked up at Kai with an eyebrow raised, and asked, “Of interest to me? How?” Though he had always let Kai handle all business negotiations, as CEO, he couldn’t see the reason for him showing interest in this no-name company.
“What’s the company called?”
“Baile Architecture and Real Estate,” Kai answered. He turned around and walked to the coffee table in the living room. He walked over to Han at the kitchen counter. He slid the folder over to him. “The name of the owner is Bai Ruolan.”
Shocked and unable to register what his ears had just heard, his hands unconsciously released the mug in his hand, causing it to shatter on the floor as he quickly looked up at Kai. He paid no attention to the mess on the floor as he looked at his friend. His eyes slowly began to turn red as water welled in his eyes. His hands shook uncontrollably as he grasped the counter.
“W- what.. what… did you just say?” he stuttered.
Kai nodded to the folder in front of Han. “I had the same reaction when she reached out to me about the company a few months ago so I ordered a background check on her. She is the Celestial Jade.”
His hand shook as he looked at the folder, slowly opening the cover to see her picture and her bright smile. He closed his eyes painfully and opened them again, looking at the picture.
Han’s reaction was exactly as Kai expected. Kai didn’t know how to feel. Maybe a little excited yet anxious and perhaps happy but then he saw depression wash over Han’s face as he looked at the papers in the folder. He saw Han abruptly getting up from his chair and heading towards his bedroom.
“She’s not there,” Kai said, causing Han to stop. “She’s been living in the US for the last 8 years. She’s only coming to the meeting. She’s coming back to live in Taipei.” Kai looked at Han squarely, his brow furrowing deeply, “And remember this is the 21st century so we have to take a plane and leave an immigration trail. We can’t just pop in and out of countries like we used to.”
Han contemplated, knowing full well Kai was right. No matter how much he wanted to see her, he would have to wait. And since he’s been waiting for the last thousand years, what’s another few days?
...
Author’s note: In East Asia, the surname comes before the first name. (Liu Han, Liu Kai, Bai Ruolan). Liu is the surname, Han and Kai are given names. Bai is the surname, Ruolan is the given name. Di An is a given name with two Chinese characters. The full name is Li Di An.
Xiaojie is a term that means “miss” mostly used to describe heiresses from wealthy families.
